SOCIETY AND CULTURE, 1974-2000

Health and Poverty. After 1974 the health of Cestrians
was not an issue for particular concern, as average death
rates were close to those for the county and nationally,
mostly between 11 and 12 per thousand. The most
common causes were heart disease, lung cancer, and
strokes. Averages, however, concealed great differences
between areas of the city, and a report of 1994
demonstrated the connexion between sickness and
poverty: the incidence of all the main life-threatening
diseases was higher in those parts of the city where
deprivation could be identified. (fn. 1) In the 1990s both
statutory and voluntary agencies in Chester understood
that poverty was increasing and that the widening gap
between rich and poor nationally was mirrored locally.
The causes identified included unemployment, old age,
sickness, and large families, all familiar since the 1930s
or earlier, besides the new factor of far more extensive
single parenthood. Government constraints on local
authority spending prevented due attention being paid
to poverty, but Chester's image as a wealthy area was
also an inhibiting factor. An investigation by Cheshire
county council into family stress identified three of the
city's wards as being among the 33 areas in the county
where the problem was worst: Lache ranked second
worst, Blacon Hall seventh, and Dee Point (also in
Blacon) thirtieth. In 1993 unemployment reached 40
per cent in parts of Lache, when the Chester district
average was 7.8 per cent. (fn. 2)

Culture and Leisure. (fn. 3) Cultural provision changed
little after 1974 and was left largely to the private
sector. Cinema-going revived considerably, and a
multi-screen cinema was built away from the city
centre on the Sealand retail estate, where car parking
was plentiful. The Odeon survived in Northgate Street.
The civic theatre, the Gateway, was moderately successful, but suffered from a poor location and cramped
premises in the Forum Centre. Lobbying continued for
a concert hall and arts complex. In the mean time
orchestral concerts were still held in the cathedral,
where a summer music festival was staged every
year. (fn. 4) 'Cultural tourism', one of few growth areas in
the 1990s, was seen as essential in helping the city to
compete successfully with its rivals for the tourist
trade. (fn. 5) Libraries were a county service, but the district
council obtained powers in 1974 to continue operating
an archives service at the Chester City Record Office in
the town hall. It closed the office in 2000, however, and
transferred the city's records to a joint service run by
the county at Duke Street. (fn. 6)